Other than the problematic portrayals of Asian-Americans in terms of the lack of authenticity, this movie is also problematic in terms of pacing and story content. There's plenty of discussions elsewhere on the internet on what this indie film means to us Asian-Americans in terms of the lack of male representation and false depictions of Asian-American family life. With all that said, this movie is also problematic in terms of pacing and story content.
What this movie desperately needs is a complete revamp of the script even before production began. The story seems very contrived and artificial. For an indie movie like this, the story is the only thing that makes or breaks its acceptance by the targeted demographic. What this movie lacks is focus and clarity. It meanders all over the place without a focus on any character that tells a concrete story. It's loosely constructed to tell a family story, but instead ends up arbitrary characters that are rather cliché and story plotting that seems forced rather than natural character developments. The tacked on "happy ending" didn't seem natural or deserved by the story plot and character motivations.
It's like that bad joke about Chinese food leaving you hungry again after an hour; while this movie seems to have interesting subplots and characters, but at the end you realize what a phoney story it is. It's not simply there are mostly Asian-American females, but as an Asian-American if I can't identify with any of the characters then I think this story isn't really serving any purpose except like chop-suey it fools the mainstream audience to believe what Asian-Americans are about.
What this movie desperately needs is a complete revamp of the script even before production began. The story seems very contrived and artificial. For an indie movie like this, the story is the only thing that makes or breaks its acceptance by the targeted demographic. What this movie lacks is focus and clarity. It meanders all over the place without a focus on any character that tells a concrete story. It's loosely constructed to tell a family story, but instead ends up arbitrary characters that are rather cliché and story plotting that seems forced rather than natural character developments. The tacked on "happy ending" didn't seem natural or deserved by the story plot and character motivations.
It's like that bad joke about Chinese food leaving you hungry again after an hour; while this movie seems to have interesting subplots and characters, but at the end you realize what a phoney story it is. It's not simply there are mostly Asian-American females, but as an Asian-American if I can't identify with any of the characters then I think this story isn't really serving any purpose except like chop-suey it fools the mainstream audience to believe what Asian-Americans are about.